Benefits of Mentoring

Why I joined Greenbatti and the benefits I gained from mentoring a child from underprivileged background

Joining Greenbatti was an impulsive decision for me . I was out shopping and saw a billboard ( the one used above ) asking for people to sign up to mentor children from the under resourced background. I did signup and got selected after the most informal interview ever. The ball started rolling after that. We had a training session with the Tata institute of Social Science and then were allotted a mentee. I had to wait a week or two to be allocated and meet my mentee, but the wait, was worth it.

My mentee, Priyanka, was a 9th standard student who loved singing, sports, was good in most subjects except English- basically an all rounder. I learned my first lesson then and there : Never underestimate. At her age, geek would have been a better description for me :P . She had come with her mother to meet me the first time. The second lesson followed on the heels of the first: Don’t assume .I had imagined a child from a broken family and who did not receive enough attention at home- basically a sob story. But all my assumptions took a flying leap into the nearest dustbin after hearing the mother speak. Priyanka’s parents adored her and wanted her to reach each heights which they could only imagine. Her parents wanted her to explore all the options and did not want lack of money or their lack of knowledge to hinder her progress.

Our sessions started and we both started thawing to each other, we both realized that spring was indeed beautiful ☺. As the sessions progressed we learned from each other and the lines between mentor and mentee got blurred.

Jumping on to the benefits I received as a mentor

1. Mentoring an child helps to make an impact though small but a positive one. It helps you feel good about yourself that you are doing something for the society. Trust me, the sense of accomplishment after each session makes you feel proud.
2. It helps you connect with another person from another background and makes you see things from another perspective. Since the child comes from a background different than yours you realise that way of doing things and way of thinking are different. For example a party for me in school meant pastries and burger, while for Priyanka, it meant a plate or two of pani puri shared with 2–3 friends.
3. You start to value things. When I first took my mentee to Cafe Coffee Day , I asked her to order what she liked from the menu. She looked at the price list and was hesitant to order any thing. Finally she ordered the least expensive item on the menu the Belgian Choco shot. I finally ordered frappe with whipped cream, along with it. When the order arrived she was so happy that she literally lit up at the sight of the frappe and enjoyed it to the fullest. Well, that day I realized the joy of having frappe without putting on weight☺
4. Helps you re connect with your childhood and then relive those beautiful moments. We had a session in which we had to do a timeline from the time we were born. Priyanka, did not have much to write about as she was still hesitant to open up to me but I had too much fun reliving the memories of my school, birthday parties, the day I stepped into college and so on…
5. Makes you feel like a proud parent without becoming one. In one of the sessions I decided to ask Priyanka to order coffee. I handed her 300 bucks and told her to order in English. She practiced the order with me and then went to give the order. when she managed to give the order in without faltering and got the exact change back, I felt like a proud parent.
6. Makes you feel responsible in a good way: Picking up my mentee, solving her little little issues, boys , discussing various education streams, correcting her English, all these little things made me feel a responsible adult in a good way without being burdened by it
7. Mentor Master Classes: GBP had organised master classes by inviting highly influential individuals like RBI governor Raghuram Ranjan and Suhel Seth to speak to the mentors. These sessions did widen my thinking a bit.
8. Learning from my mentee: Priyanka loved going to school even though it was a municipal school. On asking her why, she said that though some of the teachers were horrible, but then there were some good teachers and some amazing friends and loads of fun. I learned that Happiness does not depend on circumstances but on our choices

The path to mentoring is different for each person, but for me , it gave me a chance to to relive my childhood , changed me for the better and gave me new insights to life. It was a two way street where both the Priyanka and I learnt from our interactions .

Although an impulsive decision, mentoring a child turned out to be a beautiful one for me ☺